USB Microphone, Metal Condenser Recording Microphone for Laptop MAC or Windows Cardioid Studio Recording Vocals, Voice Overs,Streaming Broadcast and YouTube Videos-669B

My first impressions following the first half hour of use: I've tried quite a few mics for voice to text dictation and commentary for my videos. Conference mics have been poor. I've had some success with leviers and a shotgun, but the accuracy for dictation has been variable. A USB headset mic mic proved decent enough. That is until I bought this one. For my use, it is remarkably effective. Voice to text, and computer control, via Dragon Naturally Speaking, is by far the most effective I've ever used. The accuracy has been vastly improved. Hence the five stars. It's earned them. On the negative side, and I feel a bit mean complaining given the superb performance, I'd have preferred a mute button as well as the volume dial. The tripod is flimsy. The fixing screw is non-standard. In other words, nothing in particular. It's easy to set up - took less than two minutes - and there's ample cabling. And as for the price! I thought I'd buy a cheap mic of this type to see if it would be any good for my use. I expected to buy an expensive one if it seemed effective. But this, so far, does everything I want and more. Not only that, it is excellent value for money. I'll be back to edit this if I find a problem, but at the moment, I'm chuffed. UPDATE AFTER REPEATED USE: I'm still very happy with the mic, and still recommend it. There's a remarkably wide 'sweet spot' for positioning. I got the best from previous microphones by keeping them at a specific distance and position from my mouth, but this one doesn't seem particularly bothered. I have it on a stand and can move my head a fair bit, even turning away slightly, and it is still very good at voice to text. Win 11 with Realtek audio.

Yeah, Yeah I would say this is quite a decent mic actually. Its simple to use and set up and it just works - please see my video for more details... But yeah, the mic basically comes in just 2 parts... the mic and the base - these simply screw together and the whole set up process takes about 30 seconds :O The mic is USB, windows 10 downloaded the driver with no problem and installed the microphone within seconds. WIthout any tuning, the microphone sounded very good. The metal used in the build feels very premium and sturdy. The microphone comes with one dial which is for volume - there is no option for echo, but the echo effect can be easily added on a computer later on to be honest. Very decent mic for the price which picks up on voice and ignores most background noise including my incredibly loud laptop fan. Very impressed

In the box you get the microphone with an integrated USB cable just under 6ft or 180cm, a small tripod stand, and a manual. The build quality feels premium for the price, all metal outside, and it does look nice. The mic has a standard microphone mount and thread, 5/8 of an inch, so it should also fit on any mic stand or boom arm no problem. Setting up is a breeze, it doesn't require any additional phantom power, plugging into a USB port on Windows, and 30 seconds later the driver auto installed without problems. I also quickly tested it on a Linux system, and it works fine. Its also meant to work with consoles like a PS4, but I do not have one at hand for testing right now. This microphone is a cardioid polar pattern pick up condenser microphone, meaning it will pick up sound directly in front of it and not so much from the side and back. It has a knob for gain input on the mic itself, which can be quite handy. Placement will depend on your desk setup. Also you will need a pop filter if you speak directly into it, otherwise you can speak to the side to avoid pops. As with any microphone, the closer the mic is to the talent, you can reduce the gain and therefore reduce the background noise. The further away the mic is on your desktop then you will not only get more background noise as you increase the gain input, but you will also get more echo and reverb especially in a non acoustic treated environment, and you will get extra vibrations and noise from the desk since it doesn't come with a shock mount. So as tempting as it is to place this microphone on your desk due to the small tripod it comes with, you will get better audio quality if you attach it to a boom arm and bring it closer to you. Pros Decent build quality for the price, feels premium, and looks nice. Small enough to carry around and with an easy and fast setup Gain input knob is a plus Quite decent audio for the price. A great alternative to more expensive popular USB mics I don't need to have it as close to me as other mics at only 25% gain input. Cons USB only, can only be used with a computer or game console like PS4 USB cable is integrated so cannot be easily changed, which will also make it more difficult to troubleshoot compared to other mics with all detachable parts. No on/off led indicator, so always test before recording to make sure its on and working Some background noise is there, but can be reduced with acoustic treatment, and using noise reduction in post. The bare minimum accessories that it comes with, especially in terms of placement which in my opinion should be on a boom arm away from the desk. Final verdict would be 3.5 out of 5, no ability to put 0.5 review here, hence 4 stars.

To be openly transparent, I run my own production business and was asked to independently review this microphone. But nobody paid me to say anything about it... its just a working professional's view of a product that costs a tiny fraction of the kit I'm used to working with. Truly, at £33, this is an almost shocking bargain and its ideal for recording voiceovers. I used to dismiss USB microphones as 'garbage', especially at the cheaper end, but my opinion has changed because of this microphone. It needs a little 'de-essing' in post production, you need to use a pop filter (not included), and you need to keep the gain control fairly low to keep 'hiss' at bay, but these are all things you have to watch out for with professional grade XLR microphones anyway. It won't like you shouting at it, but if you don't plan to do that it will serve you very well. Good audio is as much about skill and the recording environment as it is about the microphone, but if you know what you're doing this will give units costing 10x as much a run for their money, sounding clear and professional. Its one of those rare items that genuinely performs well above its pay grade. There is no bias here, just take my word for it, if you want a great quality microphone but don't have £300 to spend, get this.

I got this back towards the end of 2019 for £30+ - one of the best, if not the best value USB mic on the market. The mic has been dubbed “the Jesus mic” by my friends due to how much range and clarity it has! This mic has astounded many reviewers over the years with it often having the same or better quality than mic double its price (or more). I have never had any durability concerns but do be aware that it is very sensitive - and pics up on everything. (a good sensitivity to have the dial is around 10 o’clock ) Audio Quality is so much better than headset mics - making my voice much clearer with a much better audio range - compare to sounding closed and “tinned” other mics. Feels much more like my voice is being heard in person. Does kinda work for ASMR noises due to its clarity. I don’t think there is anything that can beat it at it’s price point and is a great way to step into streaming, podcasts or just make your voice my clearer if on a budget.

Picks up good sound nearby but be careful where you place it as even though this is cardiod it can still pick up a lot of noise from behind it, I recommend a rear shield or placing it as far away from other electronics whilst recording/streaming to minimise interference. Other than that, there aren't many options at a similar price for this quality, let alone double the price, a very fair starting point for what I assume people will be looking for this for. Versatile for devices as it's usb, so no interface required (in fact most interfaces don't have a usb input anyway) and no phantom power required. Do take note in case you aren't thinking or are buying for someone else that this won't work with ps4, not entirely sure if it will work with Xbox one but look into it if you're planning to buy a usb microphone for Xbox one.

Looks Great and Professional.

I use speech to text often, and that’s the main reason I bought this microphone. It works perfectly for that purpose my voice is picked up clearly and accurately with no issues. It’s easy to set up, feels solid with its metal build, and works seamlessly with both Mac and Windows. A great value mic that’s ideal for speech recognition, streaming, or recording. Highly recommended.